Town Council and Sports Clubs ask for help from dog walkers

Bingham Town Council and Butt Field Sports Club, which is made up of the Youth & Adult football clubs and Cricket clubs wish to ask the dog walking community of Bingham for their understanding and help.

Butt Field has seen a huge change over the last few months with a new fenced off pitch area being created along with a new Clubhouse and training area.  This development, jointly funded by the Town Council, The Football Foundation and sports clubs of Bingham, has been watched with interest by all users of Butt Field, that include many people who use the area for walking their dogs

Whilst the old Butt Field area retains its existing rights of way, the new pitches and training area have no right of way for the general public. Unfortunately in recent months some dogs and their owners have caused significant damage to the new pitch area.

The Mayor of Bingham, George Davidson and Chairman of Butt Field Sports Club, Pete Kennedy are making a joint appeal to dog walkers to advise them of their rights at Butt Field and to ask for their vigilance in ensuring that dog fouling is cleared up at all times.

“We appreciate that people in Bingham have been walking their dogs at Butt Field for years and we would never want to change that” advised Mr Davidson.  “All we are asking is that people keep their dogs under control and off the new pitch area and that they clear up after them.  Free bags are available from the Court House for this and we would encourage people to use them.”

Mr Davidson also reaffirmed the legal rights of the general public on Butt Field.  “The Town Council is the owner of Butt Field and lease it to the Sports Clubs of Bingham via the Butt Field Sports Club for their sole use.  There are legal rights of way over the existing area but none over the new pitch area which used to be farm land.”  It is on this latter area that a lot of damage is being done.  Large areas of grass are slowly being killed off and on a recent inspection a large amount of dog dirt had to be removed.  Mess from dogs has also been found on the existing pitch area where dog walkers have a right to be.

“Not only is dog dirt very unpleasant but it also constitutes a very serious health risk” warned Mr Kennedy.  “If dog dirt found its way into person’s eye, it can cause blindness.   I know that the majority of dog walkers these days are very conscientious and we thank them for that, but there are still a few who do not clear up, leaving a really serious health hazard.  I would like to ask the good dog walkers of Bingham to speak out if they see anyone not acting in the right way, clearing up or going on to the new pitch area, over which there are no legal rights of way.  We love having the general public come to Butt Field to watch football and cricket matches and would not want that to stop - in fact we would positively encourage it.  But we do need to be able to provide a safe, quality environment for the footballing and cricketing adults and children of Bingham to enjoy.”